Android & Chill
One of many internet’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday dialogue of Android, Google, and all issues tech.
Hey! Would you like a telephone that prices an excessive amount of, has a sub-par digital camera, a tiny battery, and is not as sturdy? In that case, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is your dream telephone.
This telephone is a certifiable 100% bona fide flop. Samsung made too many compromises as a result of somebody on the firm determined that folks needed a skinny telephone and have been keen to spend an entire lot of cash on it. It virtually appears like a script for a comedy.
Sadly, it isn’t. It is one other instance of Samsung testing the waters to see what we might be satisfied we wish, besides this time it failed. However that is okay; Samsung can afford to fail.
The phone apparently isn’t selling very well, however that is not stunning. Samsung going forward with the concept, despite the fact that it is kinda dumb, is not stunning both. The corporate does this kind of factor and has been profitable previously. You solely actually know if an concept is worth it after you attempt it.
Samsung’s willingness to do dumb shit introduced us the Galaxy Note. For those who like utilizing your Apple Pencil, you have to thank Samsung for reminding us that there are occasions when your finger simply will not reduce it. When the primary Galaxy Word launched, it was a flop too. T-Cellular truly canceled its model after it was introduced and despatched to reviewers — I do know as a result of they despatched me one. Making a giant ass telephone with a stylus sounded silly on the time.
No one is saying that at present; the Galaxy Word has developed into the best phone Samsung has ever made. Struggle me. The corporate goes to do the identical with book-style foldables and has already generated virtually all of the curiosity there may be for them, just by saying “YOLO” and doing it. I like it when Samsung does that, and I hope they by no means cease. Giving us 10 unhealthy concepts is value it when that good one hits.
That is why the corporate determined telephones wanted to be thinner. Someplace down the road, they may have perfected a technique to do it with out all the required drawbacks of at present’s tech. My opinion? Forcing a design to be this skinny means battery tech needs to be improved. A flop of a skinny telephone is the 1st step to having a battery that is smaller, safer, and lasts longer.
Having stated all of this — and I actually do imply all of it, I perceive why this telephone was constructed — let’s check out what we truly received: a telephone no one was asking for and nobody should buy.
It is skinny. I do not assume it is the thinnest telephone ever, however you’ll be able to’t deny that it is thinner than anything you should purchase at present (excluding foldables). Nonetheless, it is skinny on the expense of different options that make a telephone good.
I predicted this last January once I stated making a telephone very skinny utilizing at present’s tech would imply you have to sacrifice battery life. I used to be barely off; you additionally sacrificed digital camera high quality, efficiency, and durability. However principally the battery.
Proper now, the batteries are model new, and also you hear folks say they virtually final all day or will final all day should you handle it accurately. In 90 days, it is going to be “I can get by topping it off at supper time,” and in 180 days, folks might want to cost it much more typically. That is how batteries work; the extra you utilize them, the much less you can use them.
As somebody who used a Pixel 4 for a 12 months, let me let you know that it solely will get worse from right here. A smartphone is ineffective with none fuel within the tank.
Surprisingly, that is not sufficient to kill a telephone at launch. Individuals will need it as a result of it is skinny and might get by utilizing a cable and a charger. What killed the S25 Edge was its $1,000+ asking worth.
Samsung can fake that they didn’t compromise to make a telephone this skinny, however even the folks saying that know the reality. This can be a prototype of the following large concept, and the one approach for it to get higher is to construct it and work by way of all of it. If it sticks round, we’d love what it turns into.
